Month: October 2011

This is likely going to seem egoistic, but I wanted to have a place to post my anchoring and reporting clips at YNN for those who aren’t in our coverage area. I’ve often been told by friends that they’ve watched me on YouTube… but that content is dated, so here’s the latest!

So please, enjoy 🙂 And honestly, any feedback would be welcome, always looking to improve.

This post was inspired by someone – who doesn’t know me very well – calling me “vain.”

I immediately denied it.

—-

And then I realized… maybe this acquaintance knows me better than I think.

I used to be a young woman who relished the fact that she didn’t feel pressure to wear make-up. So she did not. She may have put it on for fun, or if she was going to some fancy restaurant, or attempting to look her age, since otherwise, she looked 5 years younger and without a bachelor’s degree.

unplucked eyebrows and a stuffed turtle can make one look very juvenile

Ahh, a carefree life.

—–

Fast-forward to today. At least five days a week, I apply layers of paint to my face, eyes and lips. I blow dry my hair (my hair is already straight) and then take a straightening iron to it (my hair is already straight). All to either trot up to the anchor desk or head out to report on a story.

You may be thinking, ‘Well, that’s what professional women do. Big deal. I apply lip gloss when I head to work as well.” A legitimate point.

However, two weeks ago I volunteered to help clean up a local museum that suffered much damage from Tropical Storm Irene. At 8 a.m., as I stumbled to throw on something that could get muddied and dirtied… a ray of clarity shone into my sleep-deprived mind.

I needed make-up.

—

Being a public figure has its perks. At this point in my life, I get recognized once in a blue moon (though I do believe wearing YNN gear around town has increased those odds). But what lowers my chances is the fact that I don’t wear make-up out in public. I’ve been told I look completely different on air when I’m seen in person. And I’m not so sure that’s a compliment when people say that to my clean, make-up-less face.

So the carefree nature I used to have when it came to my appearance… is a faint memory of the past. I feel a need to maintain the person I am inside that box in your living room… wherever I may meet you otherwise.

oh. hello there.

To some extent, I am resigned to being mirror-obsessed, image-conscious person. As you can guess, this does wonders for my self-esteem. But even while I may not be the fairest person of them all, I can at least say I’ve learned how to put that hated make-up on properly. And those days where I can hide the make-up bag from myself? Completely blissful.

Did you know they had an app for this? Sheesh.

—-

Since you are the public, you certainly should have an opinion. Feel free to answer!